Dark Armor/Savage... opinions?

[Fomsie]

Hello and Happy Christmas to all, or at least Happy Almost Friday!

I am working on a theme, a Werewolf character that uses shadow powers, and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with DA/Savage Melee. If so, good, bad, indifferent? I figured the End Red bonuses on SM would help balance out the DA hogginess, but is the damage worthwhile on a Tanker? Or should I perhaps go with Claws instead? I could of course just go Dark/Dark, but I already have a LOT of DM characters, including a SD/DM Tanker, so I was looking to branch out a little.

Any info on the combo or opinions based on user experience would be great. Like, does Savage have the damage output on a Tanker to solo with reliability? Can it put out enough for the +4/x8 Solo ITF Shenanigans? I feel like it should pair well with Dark Armor, but my experience on it is limited to a Savage/WP brute and a Savage/SD stalker.

Thanks for any help/input 🙂

[Erratic1]

One thing to keep in mind about Savage Melee is the  Blood Frenzy stacks also increase Recharge so you'll tend to be attacking faster.

 

 

 

With 5 stacks you attack 20% faster while saving 23% on endurance cost. So your endurance usage is 1.2*0.77=92.4% of normal. You're saving 7.6%. 

 

That is not going to make much of a dent in your endurance usage.

[Fomsie]

Right, but that is still some savings... the big question is, for all of the speed and such, does SM put out enough damage on a Tanker to be a (mostly) stand alone damage source? Does the DPS make it viable for high end soloing efforts? That is my main concern, as any Secondary will work for group play, but it is my small group/underpowered team capability concerns.

[Erratic1]

 I have not used Savage Melee on a Tanker (yet), having it on a SM/EA Scrapper. 

 

You may want to refer to the following thread from earlier in the year for comments from someone who has played the combo on a Tanker: A Dark/Savage Build - Tanker - Homecoming (homecomingservers.com)

 

One thing I can say from my Scrapper experience is this...

 

In the thread where they dig into Scrapper damage (Scrapper Melee Primary Testing: "Standard" environment - Scrapper - Homecoming (homecomingservers.com) near the end you will see that Savage Melee is listed as one of the top performers once IOs are factored in and is still highly rated on just SOs. There is however a subjective feel which may be at odds with the actuality of what is truly going on. On my SM/EA scrapper it feels like I am doing more activations to defeat targets when Rending Flurry is not up than on say my WM/Shield scrapper. In fact I probably am doing more activations since when I am standing in the middle of a bunch of foes between Blood Frenzy and Entropic Aura my recharge bonus can get up there. It can be easy to focus on the greater number of activations than how long it is actually taking to bring opponents down. WM/Shield feels more like Thor whereas SM/EA feels more like  Wolverine.

 

Of course with a werewolf theme, wolverine should be right up the alley you're looking for (just a bit slower for not getting the boost from Entropic Aura). 

 

Edit: One other thing that occurred to me is that my calculation in my previous post only applies to the endurance spent on attacks. If you keep Blood Frenzy stacks up their bonus will be applied to all your toggles, at least until you use a spender (Rending Flurry).

Edited December 26, 2020 by Erratic1

[Stygus]

On 12/25/2020 at 6:41 AM, Fomsie said:

Any info on the combo or opinions based on user experience would be great. Like, does Savage have the damage output on a Tanker to solo with reliability? Can it put out enough for the +4/x8 Solo ITF Shenanigans? I feel like it should pair well with Dark Armor, but my experience on it is limited to a Savage/WP brute and a Savage/SD stalker.
 

I have a DA/ Savage Melee tank that I love playing, from the first level up it has been a breeze. I'm at level 46 now and do not have my first debt badge, been levelling through soloing arcs, just did a Malta and Nemesis one, and teaming with SG and some PUGing, it has had utility in all circumstances, soloing is quick enough for a tank, the build is solid enough for higher end team play, and it can hold aggro well,

The synergy between the end redux coming from the secondary with end drain of the primary make it so much easier to run than that of other DA builds,

As for soloing +4/x8 TFs and such I think that will come down to your budget, but if you have the inf, I would say that it is very doable,

Yesterday I was soloing Maxwell Christopher's arc, at a modest +2/x4 and for each mob Savage Leap from max distance, Build Up then Rending Fury  and there were no minions to hit, just an LT or two, sometimes just a boss,

Just my 2 inf

 

[Onlyasandwich]

On 12/26/2020 at 12:25 AM, Fomsie said:

does SM put out enough damage on a Tanker to be a (mostly) stand alone damage source?

I maxed out my shield/savage tanker recently, and can give you my impression from that perspective. Granted, shield is boosting the savage damage as well.

 

SM on a Tanker still has outstanding aoe. You can chain Shred/leap/Rending flurry all day smoothly, and clear the trash very nicely.

 

ST damage I'd say is on the weaker end of the spectrum for tankers. Vicious Slash is strong, especially with a few good procs thrown in, and Savage Leap actually does nicely ST as well. Unfortunately, you don't have a strong third heavy hitter like many sets do, because Hemorrhage is kinda sucky.

 

My ST is Savage Strike/Vicious Slash/Savage leap, and it's not totally seamless. I have to throw in shred for filler here and there.

You could do better if you picked up Maiming Slash, and/or more importantly procced out Gloom if it fits in your build.

 

That being said, tanker base damage values are pretty strong these days. I don't have to grind on a boss all day - they go down okay. It's just that my /WM, /EM, , /SS, and /IM all have a better time knocking down the bigger foes.